Hyderabad: The leader of the house and the chief minister KCR on Saturday said that the state government was on high alert on the onslaught of deadly coronavirus (COVID-19), which is spreading across the world. He made it clear that the responsibility to keep the virus at bay in the state lied on their shoulders.
He made these remarks while replying to a short discussion held on the ‘impact of coronavirus in the state and measures taken by the state government to contain it’ in the Legislative Assembly. He told the people of the state that they should not worry about the virus and added that the state government was ready to spend Rs. 5,000 crore is required to prevent the virus in the State. The State Government is fully prepared to tackle the situation and has been making necessary arrangements for the past 11 days since the first case of COVID-19 was reported, he added.
He said that they had kept the stocks of masks, suits, and sanitizers ready for distribution as part of their precautionary measures to prevent the virus. KCR said that of the 65 people infected by the virus across the country 17 were foreigners. He also said that 10 of the 65 infected patients had been discharged from the hospital after their successful treatment while noting that only two people died so far due to the virus in the country. Referring to the first corona positive person from the State, the CM said that the person had been completely cured and was discharged from the Gandhi hospital. He said that two more people from the state developed coronavirus symptoms and added that they had sent their samples for diagnostic to Pune based lab.
Cabinet Meeting
The CM further said that they would convene a cabinet meeting to discuss the issue in detail and to take into consideration the recommendations made by the high-level committee. The CM said that the coronavirus would affect the world once in 100 years and added that 1.4 crore people died across the globe due to the virus when it hit the world 100 years ago. He said that they were also observing the National and international developments on the issue. He said that all the states of the country, including Congress-ruled ones, were also on high alert. He said that cinema theatres, schools have been shut down in some of the states of the country. He said that the virus had spread across countries like China, South Korea, Iran, Italy France, Spain, and Germany. He said that the country had suspended the issuance of the visas to the foreigners for some time. He said that 200 personnel of the health and medical department were deployed at the airport.
“Some states like Delhi and Karnataka have already initiated measures such as the temporary shutdown of crowded places like cinema halls, malls, and educational institutions to contain the spread of the virus, he said.
“If any suspected cases are found at the airport, they are being immediately quarantined. We have already prepared isolated locations like Dhoolapally Forest Academy and Haritha Resorts at Vikarabad among others to keep the suspected cases, while we established isolation wards in several government and private hospitals to treat positive cases of the virus,” he said.
SOURCE: NSS
